He said that a "premier investment banking franchise" was necessary and stressed that "I have been, and continue to be, a supporter of Barclays' universal banking model" which unites high street and investment banking.

However, the review is likely to signal a pull-back from the tax planning operations that have caused controversy for Barclays in the past as well as the sale of interest rates swaps to small businesses that are now the subject of a review by the Financial Services Authority.

In a presentation to analysts from New York, Jenkins said the review of businesses would assess their financial returns but also to consider whether "they pass the level of external scrutiny and reputational impact".

"My expectation is that we will identify sources of inefficiency and under-performance that we will need to change," he said. "No businesses will be out of scope; we will move quickly and be bold.

"However you should not expect me to announce the breakup of the bank or the exit from whole business lines," he stressed.

He is ditching the return-on-equity targets – a measure of shareholder return – set by Diamond and will publish a flexible target for how much he hopes to beat the bank's cost of capital – a measure of running the business – next year.

Starting only his second week at the helm after running both Barclaycard and the high street bank, Jenkins described the last few months as "difficult ones for Barclays".

"It is clear we have made some serious mistakes in recent years and clearly failed to keep pace with our stakeholders' expectations."

As he pledged to make Barclays a "'go to" bank in the eyes of clients, Jenkins was asked whether the FSA had required Barclays to consider the potential hit to its reputation from some of its business operations. Jenkins insisted this was not the case, although he admitted the regulator was "very interested in what we are doing here".

Rich Ricci, head of the investment banking business once known as Barclays Capital, gave examples of businesses that were scrutinised, even if they were generating profits. "For example, elements of our tax advisory business have generated negative media and political attention, as has the sale of structured products to SMEs," he said.

Ricci set out the case for Barclays' continued involvement in investment banking, saying that "a small group of global players" would continue to survive and that the bank had "earned our place in that group".